


Happy Birthday, Parker!

by Ultra



Series: Moments in Time [21]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, Birthday Party, F/M, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-17
Updated: 2012-04-17
Packaged: 2020-03-02 05:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18804676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: Parker never had a birthday party. Team Leverage are about to fix that.





	Happy Birthday, Parker!

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for Leverageland on Livejournal, for the prompt 'bash'.

Parker never had a birthday party. That fact all but broke the heart of each member in her team that were practically family, and all wanted to do something about it.

Immediately, Sophie was writing a guest list a mile long, Nate was seeking out some massive venue, and Hardison was on the case with music and a light show and all. Eliot was quiet, silent even to start off with.

Telling them they were all stupid seemed unnecessarily nasty. Admitting he was sure he knew Parker better than all of them combined seemed wrong. It was true though, and there was no getting around it anymore. He knew they were going about this all the wrong way and that their darling little thief would not be all that impressed by a crowd of people and noise and complications. For a girl besotted by diamonds and money, she had pretty simple tastes, and she missed out on the happy childhood that every kid should have been blessed with.

With all the neuro-linguistic programming in the world, Sophie couldn’t’ve beaten Eliot’s Southern charm, and the hitter could play Hardison even better than his own battered guitar with a few well-chosen words about impressing Parker. Nate went with Sophie because arguing with her would have been suicide. When he had them all on side, Eliot smiled, and that same grin showed up again a week later, on Parker’s actual birthday, when the girl herself walked into McRory's only to be met by her four favourite people in the world and the party she had always wanted.

A banner above the bar proclaimed ‘Happy Birthday’ in glitter. A large table pulled out into the middle of the room had a brightly coloured table cloth, paper plates, and silly shiny party hats laid out for five guests. Parker’s eyes were alight with joy, taking in the scene. Though everything here was perfect and beautiful, it was the food that held most of her attention.

Little sandwiches, pigs in blankets, bowls of chips, tubs of popcorn, jello and ice-cream piled high, and a cake. It was the most gorgeous cake Parker ever saw in her life, all chocolate and fudge and cream, and on the top ‘Happy Birthday, Parker’ in beautifully swirling letters.

Somebody asked if she liked it and the thief was barely aware of which of her friends had spoken, as she nodded her head, a huge grin on her face that could not be shifted. She loved each and every one of her wonderful team for this beautiful surprise, but she knew who must have come up with this idea in the first place.

“Thank you, Eliot,” she said as she threw herself into his arms, startling him a little as she hugged him tight.

It didn’t take long for him to relax and hug her back, just as pleased as punch that she realised he was the one to make all this perfect for her.

“You’re more than welcome, darlin’,” he told her as he held her tight, not even caring that the rest of the team were staring at them oddly as he was sure they were.

Parker realised that Eliot was the one to know her best, to figure this would be the party she wanted most of all. She didn’t know it, but despite the fact today was her birthday bash and her day for presents, her knowing he had done this was the greatest gift she could have given to him.


End file.
